Of reality and fiction
by Vickysg1
Summary: John doesn't understand why Elizabeth would choose to watch this.


**Disclaimer:** I own neither the show nor the characters. I don't earn any money; I just do it for fun.  
**Author's Note:** Written for Sparktober in June! Yes, the first line is from the _Doctor Who_ episode 'Flesh and Stone'. Well, ladymore's prompt was 'you, me, handcuffs', what was I supposed to do? :D

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_"You, me, handcuffs. Must it always end this way?"_

"Oh, it is totally cliché to say that," John groaned at the screen.

From her seat on the couch beside him, Elizabeth shushed him. She had stopped counting how many times she had to do that halfway through the first episode; John had been restless ever since she put the DVD in the player and pressed play. She wondered why he had agreed to watch the show with her if he was to act like this the whole time. She guessed he wanted to have some time alone with her, outside of their quarters, and having the rec room to themselves was the closest thing to a date they could have here in Atlantis.

The episode ended and John sighed, obviously relieved. She turned towards him, and waited for him to look at her, her patented raised eyebrow in place.

"What?" he asked, when he finally did and saw the look on her face.

"You don't have to watch this with me if you don't want to."

"I know. I just... I wanted to know what you and other people saw in this show."

"And...?" she prompted when he didn't elaborate.

"I don't understand why you're watching a sci-fi show when you literally live it every day."

"This is not the same, John."

"How is it not? They travel through space and we do too except we use the Gate and not a blue police box. They meet other races, we do too. They endanger people and save them at the end of the day: well, my team is quite good at that too. So, alright, we don't travel in time, but it happened in the past to SG1 or to the older Elizabeth. We do the same things they do on that show on a regular basis, and come to think of it, some of the technology they have, we have it too, and for real."

"Do we have a robot dog that I don't know of?"

"They have a robot dog?" John asked, surprised. "Ok, I'll admit that it's quite cool. Still, I don't understand why you like it."

"Think of it as an escape from reality," Elizabeth replied. "Yes, the situations in the show sometimes feel quite familiar with enemies unexpectedly showing up and friends needing to be saved. But at the same time, no matter what you think, it's completely different from what we're living. Just like you escape from your everyday life here by watching old football games, I watch this show."

John finally nodded; he could understand what she meant. Maybe he would never understand what she liked in a show like this one, but at least, her reasons for watching it were clear now.

"Alright," he said. "But the next time we're watching this, I'll bring my pad and play solitaire."

"You don't have to be here."

"I know. But I want to."

They smiled. She wanted to lean towards him and kiss his lips, but even in the relative quiet of this part of the City, it was a line she couldn't cross. It didn't matter that their people knew they were a couple, it was just something they had established early on in their relationship: no public display of affection of any kind where people could see them. They had never needed words or acts to convey their feelings, anyway; looks had been their silent form of communication almost from the beginning.

And tonight was no exception: only a look was needed to make him know what she was thinking.

"You know, as long as you know which is real life and which is fiction, I think I can understand why you're watching this show."

"Don't worry, I don't think I can mix the two."

"Because they don't have a handsome USAF Colonel in the show?" he asked, smugly.

"No, because we don't have a TARDIS."

John's smile fell and he narrowed his eyes at her, and she smiled in answer. His scowl didn't last long, and soon, he couldn't stop himself from smiling. An idea crossed Elizabeth's mind, and she thought about dismissing it for a moment, before changing her mind; no one was around, and it was just too tempting to resist saying.

She leaned in a bit closer to him and lowered her voice to a whisper.

"You, me, handcuffs. Too cliché for you?"

Before he could reply anything, she was already out of the room.

"I think I can see the appeal," he said even though no one could hear him before rushing to catch up with her.

Fin.


End file.
